Seam opening attachment



March 4, 1952 J. KA'TZ ETAL 2,587,626

' SEAM OPENING ATTACHMENT f Filed Sept. 15, 1945 I N V EN TORS'.

Jbhus KATZ BY FRANK P. MAJ'OEOS Patented Mar. 4, 1952 SEAM OPENING ATTACHMENT Julius Katz, New York, and Frank P. Majoros,

Brooklyn, N. Y., assignors to Superba Manufacturing 00., Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application September 15, 1945, Serial No. 616,610

'1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to an attachment operating separately'of or in con unction with a seaming machine to fold back. the marginal edges of fabric along the line of seaming thereof and to press the folded edges upon the fabric.

The present invention is a further improvement of the device forming the subject matter of our copending patent application, Serial Number 509,568, filed on November 9, 1943, now Patent 2,423,101, dated July 1, 1947.

It has been found in'practice that certain types of fabrics do not lend themselves well to seam opening operations ordinarily used because finish variations hamper seam opening operations or because either the marginal edges of material beyond the line of seaming are too narrow or the texture of the material will not respond to ordinary treatment in the seam opening operations.

With the foregoing in mind, it is the principal object of this invention to provide an auxiliary seam opening attachment whereby the marginal edges along the line of seaming are yieldably engaged on top and bottom and fold over and rest flat upon the body of the fabric simultaneously with the movement of the latter and prior to being subjected to the pressing operation.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the description thereof and from the several embodiments illustratively exemplified in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the bed portion of a seaming machine equipped with a guide plate, and seam opening and moving means and a pressing attachment;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the same;

'Figure 3 is a substantially transverse sectional view taken on lines 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a plan view of a guide or working plate and modified form of seam opening and pressing attachment;

Figure 5 is a front view of the attachment placed beyond the plate showing the material being run over the top of the means to open the seam;

Figure 6 is a substantially transverse section of a guide plate showing the seam opening attachment operating vertically against a seam running along the upright edge of the plate;

Figure 7 is a plan view of a modified form of curved seam opening attachment;

Figure 8 is a side elevational view of the same;

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the seam opening attachment with divided seam engaging portion to embrace the seamed material above and underneath the line of seaming.

Figure 10 is a side view of a curved guide plate;

Figure 1 1 is a plan view of the guide plate and seam opening attachment operating on an open seam connecting joined layers of material which are in laid open position.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Figures 1 to 3, so, It denotes the bed of a seaming machine upon which is mounted a guide plate l i The plate i l is L-shaped, the base arm being attached to the bed ill by means of a screw and thumb nut 22 while the longer arm projects rearwardly and is suspended over and beyond the bed it. The needle and sewing shoe l3 of the seaming machine are arranged in a cut-away portion Ha of the outer edge of the longer arm of the guide plate ii adjacent the angle thereofwith the base arm. The material A to be seamed is folded upon itself to form two layers and is fed over the guide plate ll, so as to bring one layer above and the other underneath the plate, with their meeting edges projecting beyond the inner side edge of the longer arm. The needle 13 operates on the projecting super-posed edges of the material to form the seam. The rearward inner side edge of the longer arm is placed outside of the line of seaming B to cause the rearwardly moving material to turn transversely'slightly while the line of seaming B retains a straight line running rearwardly from the needle. lhis operation, as explained in connection with our copending application, causes a side fold to form in the material which is outside the line of seaming. The material is fed from the seaming machine It] and from the guide plate H by means of a pair of pressure rollers I4, disposed beyond the rearward free end of the guide plate II.

According to the present invention, the seam is opened and the side edges thereof are turned down upon the adjacent material by means of a laterally disposed shoe l5, as shown in Figure 1, comprising a rectangular frame pressing downwardly upon the material and against the suspended end of the guide plate H with suflicient force to spring the latter as required, as illustrated in Figure 2. The frame is supported from one end and transversely of the plate II by an upright post It, which is disposed beyond the inner edge of the plate H, and which is supported in an opening I! in the bed plate of the machine H) as shown in Figure 2. The downward pressure of the frame against the plate is caused and regulated as required by a helical spring l8 arranged on the post It between the under side of the bed ill and an adjustable washer H) on the lower end of the post, the washer being adjustable to change the tension of the spring 18 by means of a nut 20 on the threaded end of the post.

In operation, the line of seaming B passes under the frame of the shoe l5 which tends to spread and then places the marginal edges against the material outside the seam, while the plate supports the material from underneath.

The shoe l5a of Figures 4 and 5 comprises a single lateral finger 2| adapted either to press down upon the seam and plate H as in the preceding figures or to permit the seam to be drawn over the top of the finger 24a and then downwardly by means of rollers Ma as in Figure 5, whereby the side edges of the seaming are caused to automatically fold outwardly and down upon the material as they are drawn over the finger.

The shoe 22 of Figure 6 comprises an angular rod having a lateral arm yieldably adjustable in bearings 23 on the under side of the bed plate Hi,

and an upright arm 24 pressing against the side edges of the seam which is passing along the upright side wall of a guide plate 25. The lat eral arm of the shoe 22 is operated by means of a helical spring 2% between the end of the arm and the outer bearing 23.

Figures 7 and 8 illustrate a shoe 2? comprising a slightly arched lateral arm 28 anchored at one end adjacent the needle 43 on a pin of the bed i and adapted at its opposite free end to come in close contact with the material along the line of seaming, to cause the side edges to open out and be pressed down upon the material. The free end of the arm 23 is shaped into a laterally disposed rectangular frame 29.

The arm 39 of Figure 9 is of the same type as that of Figures 7 and 8 except that the rectangular frame 29a is formed into layers between which the line of seaming and the material is drawn to open and press the side edges of the seam.

Figure 10 illustrates a guide plate 3!, which is arched slightly and which brings about better results when combined with any of the shoes or when used with certain types of materials.

Figure 11 shows the shoe ia of Figure 4 being 4 used to press a fiat seam C by simply drawing the same between the shoe and plate.

In each embodiment of our invention, the purpose is to operate a shoe or finger positioned anywhere on or beyond the plate against or under the line of seaming in material to cause the side edges to open out and then down upon the material in full open position.

The present description of the invention is not to be considered as restrictive. The application of the invention is possible of variations and it is not to be limited to these details and specific constructions. Changes and modifications may be made in the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest aspects.

Therefore, it is desired to cover any and all forms and variations of the invention which are interchangeable in use, and which come within the terms or scope of the appended claim.

Having described our invention and the manner in which the same operates, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A seam opening device for material traversing a seam forming mechanism, including a guide plate and drawing means for said material, the said guide plate having a cut-out formed in one portion thereof to receive the seam forming means, said guide plate having an offset edge over which said material is passed to raise the edges of superposed plies oi seamed material upon the upper surface of said plate, and a presser shoe mounted over said plate and between said ofiset edge and said drawing means to flatten the seam as it is drawn forward.

JULIUS KATZ. FRANK P. MAJOROS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,571,774 Gardner Feb. 2, 1926 1,799,132 Gardner Mar. 31, 1931 2,032,918 Cutler -1 Mar. 3, 1936 

